An automatic vacuum cleaner has more or less the same idea of robotic pool cleaner, an appliance that predates app-centric platforms as we see today in modern homes. This appliance is smart in the sense that it is able to clean the entire floor of an area in your home without bumping into furniture pieces or falling off the stairs thanks to a number of adaptive sensors.

Neato and iRobot are prominent names in automatic vacuum cleaners industry. Both have been in the market for many years, delivering quality products to keep up with the more rapidly developing manifestations of app-controlled residence in modern home-networking world.

Neato with its Botvac Connected and iRobot with its Roomba 980 are direct competitors. Each is Wi-Fi enabled for app control, easy to use and has mapping system to analyze the room.

iRobot Roomba 980

Roomba 980

iRobot Roomba 980 is the latest and most advanced version from the company to date, featuring Wi-Fi connectivity .

In many respects, Roomba 980 is similar to its predecessor, the Roomba 880. It is a circular automatic vacuum cleaner at 13.8-inch in diameter and 3.6-inch high. As mentioned earlier, the height matters; a 0.3-inch difference in height may not seem much, but it can be a big difference between slithering unobtrusively on the floor and bumping into chair legs repeatedly.

Roomba 980 has three buttons; a large Clean button is sitting at the top, while the smaller Spot and Home buttons are on its right and left sides. Clean button also functions as power key, so you press it once to turn on the robot, and once again to start cleaning.

Pressing the Home button commands the robotic cleaning to return to its docking station, recharge, and standby for the next instruction. As the name suggests, Spot cleaning is useful when you need to clean dirt and stain in any specific area only.

A row of lights above the Clean button acts as indicators for Wi-Fi status, Troubleshooting (which means something is wrong and it requires troubleshooting), battery, and full bin. There is also Dirt Detect indicator to tell you that the robot has found intense-debris spot. Troubleshooting indicator is accompanied by an error number of which the reference can be found in the companion app.

Roomba 980 is packaged with an assortment of accessories including charging station, a spare filter, an extra side brush, and two Virtual Wall Barriers. iRobot provides more sophisticated barrier devices with which you can set any custom border to prevent this robot from wandering to unwanted areas in your home. Virtual Wall Barriers double as Geofence devices to create a restricted zone of several diameters.

It does not come with a physical remote control, but you can always use your Android or iOS device. Thanks to home network connectivity, it is possible to send command to the robot even when you are not at home using your smartphone. Roomba 980 has a feature called Carpet Boost which automatically increases suction power when cleaning carpet area.

The idea is that dirt and dust hide in the carpet and they require more suction power to clean. Boost mode can be used on carpet area only or the entire floor if needs be. Another option is a single run or two cleaning passes.

Roomba 980 has scheduling option, and better than anything, automatic recharging between cleaning. When it runs out of battery power in the middle of the job, it can automatically return to its charging station and resume working when fully charged. It removes the needs for continuous checking, so it’s a handy feature when you clean your home from far away location using the app.

Neato Botvac™ Connected

Unlike the more mainstream circular shape of automatic vacuum cleaner, the Neato Botvac Connected has a D-shaped body. Only the back part of the appliance is curved, allowing it to get into tight corners with ease. An exhaust vent and charging port are located in this curved part.

The overall dimension measures at 3.9-inch H x 12.7-inch W x 13.2-inch D. For a vacuum cleaner, the height matters because it is intended to slither through the floor underneath chair, couch, TV stands, and table, so you will want it to be as low as possible. In the front, there is a handle to grab when you want to pick it up. Control panel is on the top of the robotic cleaner, consisting of LCD screen, four buttons for programming, and two other buttons for Spot Cleaning and Start/Pause.

LCD panel is quite small at only 1.7-inch square but it conveys valuable information such as indicators for battery life, active cleaning mode, and Wi-Fi. There are only two cleaning modes in the Neato Connected including Eco and Turbo. The former is the standard option with normal suction power thus it takes longer to cover a cleaning area, while the latter delivers a more powerful power for quicker cleaning.

Both Spot Clean and Home buttons also function as indicators to inform you whether or not the battery is fully charged. The programmable buttons located near the LCD screen are used for programming and accessing settings when you don’t use the robotic vacuum with its companion app.

The bottom of the Neato Connected is home to many different parts including brush/blade combo, two drop sensors (each on its rear right and left sides) to prevent it from falling of the stairs, a set of wheels, spinning side brush, brush guard, and battery compartment.

Neato Connected automatic vacuum cleaner is packaged with some spare accessories such as blade roller, filter, and boundary marker. Instead of using electric area marker, Neato uses the more conventional 80-inch long magnetic tape that you can cut into any length to set custom borders. Physical remote control is omitted, but you can use your smartphone to replace it.

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Information provided is believed correct and true to the best of our ability based on the manufacturer published information. However, Wirelesspoi is not responsible for typographical errors or incorrect data. Please visit the official manufacturer product page for more details on the specifications and features

Note: This writer neither own this product nor have the personal experience in handling it. However this article is produced based on manufacturer published facts and other relevant sources (if applicable).